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Grapefruit and Anise Macarons

May 24, 2010

I am always happy to help my friends or lend a hand. When they have baking questions, I generally have an answer or know where to find it (mom). When that baking question involves my making macarons to help illustrate the answer, you can bet I am happily whipping up a batch. If anyone asks me the ins and outs of food chemistry or needs some kitchen mystery answered, I send them to my friend Brian also knows as "The Food Geek".

Not only is Brian the ultimate nice guy, he is also a true geek of food, always exploring and researching. I have had the pleasure to meet Brian on a foodie trip last year and really enjoyed his theories and explanations. Let's just say that if my computer would pass out on me for no obvious reason I'd call him first and have him troubleshoot things.

He asked me one day if I knew why a particular recipe for macarons that he emailed would have a strong meringue flavor. It took me just about 2 seconds to message back that the recipe did not yield traditional French macarons and relied solely on meringue as the building block. Hence the strong meringue flavor. I mentioned the balance of almonds to egg whites in macarons which usually balances out a strong egg white flavor.

Brian asked if I could create a macaron that would fit the criteria asked by one of his readers: grapefruit or blood orange, not strong on the egg white flavor. I did not change much to my original recipe and used grapefruit zest to flavor the shells.I did however have fun with the buttercream and used a nice complimentary flavor by adding some Pastis (anise liquor) to the buttercream. Any non alcoholic anise flavoring would work but Pastis reminds me of long summer days back home and a cold Pastis at the local cafe.

I am biased when it comes to macarons so I did ask Bill if he thought they add a strong meringue taste. He nodded "nope" but mentioned that the grapefruit made his upper lip numb.

So...here is a question for Brian: given that it was an organic, pesticide free grapefruit, what could have caused his upper lip to go numb? The citric acid? An alkaline ph? Any ways to fix or prevent this?

His job never ends...You can read his full article on the subject of meringue cookies by clicking on this link.

Prepare the macarons:In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, (think bubble bath foam) gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue (think shaving cream). Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry. Place the powdered sugar and almonds and grapefruit zest in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 280F (convection - 300F regular). When ready, bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool. Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.

Place the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream (temperature should be about 235-238F). Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-8 minutes. Add the liquor or extract and fold with a spatula. Fill a pastry bag with it and pipe on the macarons.

The Design Dish: that would fine, refer here for terms of usage. Thank you.

wendywy: thanks, the second shot is from <a href="http://www.mytartelette.com/2010/03/french-word-week-pamplemousse-giveaway.html'>two months ago.>/a>If I weren't in bed with a 106F fever I would have tried to come up with a "fresher" one :)

How weird, it made his lip go numb?! Huh. I've never found macarons to have a strong egg white flavor either, so I guess I'm biased as well :) This sounds like a wonderful flavor combination though - cool and refreshing.

MON DIEU!Where ever do you come up with these combo Tarty?Honestly PH move over!You have outdone Le Maitre! As far as Bill's lips going numb...um, has he checked his toes lately? Could be that thing with extremities etc..I never heard of adding zest to the meringues - most unique idea.Really I'm beginning to think I will have to break down and attempt to make these suckers one of these days.I know tragedie awaits me in spades...xxxCarolg

I may be the queen of shortbread, but I've yet to make macaroons that look like perfect macaroons. This recipe (and the gorgeous pictures) has inspired me to try one more time! If this works it's back to try pistachio brulee, because yum!

I may be the queen of shortbread, but I've yet to make macaroons that look like perfect macaroons. This recipe (and the gorgeous pictures) has inspired me to try one more time! If this works it's back to try pistachio brulee, because yum!

First-time commenter, long-time fan/lurker! I stumbled into a rhubarb bar recipe on Lara Ferroni's blog that is topped with rhubarb curd, and I have plans to make and share them out. The curd recipe yields twice as much curd as you need, so I was faced with a decision; halve the recipe, or, much more preferably, figure out what to do with extra rhubarb curd. It only took about three seconds for macarons to start dancing around my head! I've pulled up your recipe for powdered strawberry macarons, and they will soon receive a tasty dollop of rhubarb curd in their middles! It's going to be my first attempt at macarons, but you make it much less intimidating; thank you! I'm intensely excited for these to be a reality. Thank you for the inspiration! Hooray for spring and strawberry rhubarb macarons!

While I don't read your blog regularly (nor do I read anyone's blog regularly) I do have an educated palate and I always support (albeit silently) your sublime sense of style and you innate talent as a foodie.

When I read the comment from your friend the "food geek", he seems less supportive of you and more supportive of himself...and he doesn't seem to have an educated palate. Trust your own talents and gifts.

I had meant to post this sooner...and decided to post it now...what a peculiar event happened...my chef friend had asked me what I was cooking next and I said sheepishly: "Do you really want to know? I'm going to make an almond and pear tart"....and you had made an almond and apricot tart similarly to what I was thinking about....then I decided to write you about the "food geek".

Ms Licorice: I think something got lost in translation because all I can say from knowing Brian in real life is that you got him all wrong. There was no need from him to be supportive since 1/we were not competing for spotlight and 2/I was helping him out eliminating or securing the options that would best answer his reader.

If he did not have an educated palate, he woould have completely "eeweeed" the anise idea which he did not. He thought it was refreshing, interesting and palate provoking.

I have to say I don't see where the "trust your instinct" part comes into play "versus" Brian. He asked me to explain why macarons would have less of a meringue flavor than other egg white based cookies and I did. He's still searching for a cookie that meets the criteria given by his reader, that would not be a macarons. To me that's the sign of a dedicated foodie.

Pretention gets one no where in the kitchen and Brian is far from it. He had nothing but praise for "my gifts and my talents" if I may quote you.

Is this because I suggested that, if someone wanted, they could skip the anise filling and just make the shells? My column on Fine Cooking is a question and answer column, and someone had asked me about how to make something that is similar to just the outside shell of the cookie, so I wanted to ensure that I was answering the question as completely as possible. This was especially important as I was doing a bad job of answering the question in the first place, so I figured I would get as close as I possibly could.

For Helen, she clearly did fantastic work, as always. That's why I asked for her help. If she hadn't been able to help, the question would have languished in the dustbin, completely unanswered (rather than just partially unanswered, due to my lack of knowledge).

Numb lips... sounds like a reaction to the enzymes found in fruits and vegetables. A sensitivity to certain enzymes can cause a faux anaphylactic reaction. It is not a true anaphylactic reaction, as in your airways do not swell up, but you experience a similar reaction in that your lips, throat, and/or ear canals will often tingle or grow numb or feel itchy. It's a very strange feeling! Common fruits/veggies that can cause a reaction like this include (but are not inclusive for everyone, some may bother you while others do not); stone fruits, avocado, citrus fruits, strawberries, kiwi, carrots (particularly baby carrots). The younger the fruit/veggie, the higher the enzyme content - the riper they get, the less enzymes remain active. Freezing or heating above 180' will kill the enzymes enough to consume for someone who suffers with this version of food sensitivity. The tricky part is dealing with the fruit/veggies that can neither be frozen or heated for consumption, or rather you wouldn't prepare them that way - like avocados or grapefruit! Anyway, this sensitivity is very common and can come and go thru childhood and adulthood. Different enzymes bother different people, so while one person may be sensitive to kiwi another person would be sensitive to carrots and not vice-versa.

Jena: thanks for taking the time to write this all down but I don't think that's the case though. He had grapefruit cake with zest, pulp, skin, etc...and he had no reaction. From talking to one of the store clerks I think that we were sold a conventional fruit instead of an organic one when they were filling the bins at the same time and the residue of pesticide even after being washed is what caused the tingling on his tongue.

Ms Licorice: misunderstandings happen. It's hard to convey everything in writing, personalities, frienship, admiration or frustration.I do hope you keep on discovering Brian as his geekiness is truly genuine and his methodical approach something that is rare these days.

Fascinating post. Just the kind of thing I love reading about. Interesting to hear about the grapefruit causing a numbing effect - I'm not sure if I've encountered that before. As an aside, I was once told to add a sprig of rosemary into my egg white mixture when whipping it for a particular souffle, because it apparently neutralises any excessive 'eggy' flavour in the end result.

If anyone was still wondering, the cause of the grapefruit (or almond related) numbness is likely OAS or Oral Allergy Syndrome. It's a food allergy that results from an allergy to various pollens, such as birch or other, and affects 20% of people who have a pollen allergy causing their lips/mouth/throat to itch/swell/become numb. Interestingly enough, it rarely affects anything other than the lips, mouth or throat area (as in, it should not cause you get hives all over), since the chemical compound the person is allergic to is broken down by enzymes in saliva. Allergy shots or medication may diminish this, but for the most part these have proven ineffective. Usually, the best solution for this is not to ingest the offending fruits in their raw nature, cooking them or processing them in some way will resolve the issue. If you do a google search on Oral Allergy Syndrome, you should be able to find out what pollen allergies are connected to what.